stupid hippies

building a university on top of a mountain was a really dumb idea.
SFU is what happens when you let a bunch of stoned hippies plan things.
however, refusing to respond to the repercussions of that decision is just fucking stupid.
what's their excuse now?

bricolage

weed grinder? nope. seed grinder.

In the middle of preparing my contribution to an Ethiopian potluck I found myself in need of crushed coriander, cardamom, and allspice.
My dilemma: I only had whole seeds and my mortar and pestle shit the bed a while back.
Solution: pull a MacGyver.
The result: tasty.

i loved MacGyver as a kid and I think 'jury rigging' is one of my few skills. The ability to 'MacGyver' things is, in my opinion, a dying art. I've taught Intro to Geography lab several times during my grad career and have seen a complete lack of problem solving skills in my students. In my opinion it's pervasive and I think it's related to our 'ready made' society and the disappearance of 'blue collar' families. Most items come pre-assembled from somewhere else; kids don't see things being made anymore. Things seem to have always existed as they see them now. The concept of 'process' is absent. Also material goods are disgustingly convienent and cheap; In the past, poor families were forced to repair things. Nowadays if something breaks most people call a specialist or buy a replacement. Rarely do people try to fix it themselves. The end results is that 'Jack of all trades' types like my dad are an endangered species. Their skills, resourcefulness, inventiveness, and industriousness, are dying with them to the detriment of us all.
I can't help but worry about the future when the future can't figure out which way a river is flowing on a topographic map or how to measure the length of something that isn't straight.

midnight oil

I've started taking photos of myself wherever I go to write my thesis. I like the idea of documenting my progression, as seen in my face and surroundings, throughout the final stages. Perhaps I'll compile them into some sort of Flash-based flip book after it's all over. What can I say I'm a big fan of 'change over time'.Saturday evening's writing locale:
the best damn diner booth in town until 2:36am.
And we actually studied; didn't just sit there chitchatting with our computers open. It's no secret that I'm a nerd but even I get surprised by how much fun it can be to stay up working late with a friend.

Back to Hotel Manitoba and it's many treasures........ I'm happy that the residents know that only the blast furnaces of Pittsburgh could mend Thor's might hammer. Of course that's a no-brainer to any 'burger.Wrapped up the evening with well-earned cartoon time and a then an icy ride home to a delicious 4am sandwich. Stu and I agreed that if we had been left to our own designs we probably would have ended up going out or going to bed instead. I vote for more study dates. Anyone else?
oh, and I think i need to post more often.
don't want to steal any 3-photo-thunder.

Vitamin D!

January sunshine makes everyone in this town smile. Gives this city, which possesses so much natural beauty but suffers a serious lack of human warmth, an almost friendly disposition. Spent as much time as possible on my bike, in the sun, and in the company of good folks the past few days. Today included an 9.5km ride to New Brighton Beach with Frances; our longest adventure yet. The Alley clowns took a field trip on Sunday to see C!RCA perform '46 circus acts in 45 minutes'. Left amazed and with our heads full of clowning ideas. Felt fortunate as I ended a fine day with the weekly bike potluck and a brisk ride back home in the midst of a bike posse.
It seems that coffee shops are the secret to me finishing this thesis. Having no internet and constant movement around helps me focus. Setting daily rewards helps too. I earned a trip to the Brickhouse after working til 11pm on Friday. I guess I'm a nerd but it felt good to work late. Current writing music: Ratatat, the Beta Band, Menomena

Breakin' habits

A brisk and moderately sober ride home from the brickhouse tonight has me wide awake. I like how cold nights change my attitude towards the Adnac hill from potential asthma attack to harbinger of blood flow and body heat. Props go to Peter the barkeep for the evening's visual entertainment.

meringue

Ooooooh yea, I'd jump into a giant version of that. Then I'd sit in it and drink a Guinness, preferably with friends. Meringue's texture results from beating egg whites, which causes some of the hydrogen bonds in the proteins to break, making the protein's structure unfold. There is debate over who invented this textural wonder. Some attribute meringue to an Italian living in Meiringen in the 18th century while others credit Lady Fettiplace for it in 1604. Her recipe book, compiled at a time when literacy was uncommon among women, preserved many traditional English dishes as well as one for 'white bisket bread'.

salary!

Gale force winds hit Vancouver today and blew in a my first Macbook AND a great deal on this jacket. A complete lack of buyers remorse since I ordered the Mac. The timing is rather ironic as I also signed my first real J.O.B contract today. Salary, benefits, dog-friendly lab space, control over shoes and clothing, and the reduction of student loan debt. Getting payed fo' real starting Feb. 1st. Not only will I begin mapping glacier loss in Glacier National Park, BC due to climate change but I will make my clown crew debut at Bikesinside! work. fun. fun work. Yee-haw.

tuff

A friend recently wrote to me:
"what doesn't kill you makes you stonger".

Here's a list of things that have tried to kill me:

*severe croup
*asthma
*hundsknubel ski hill in Soerenberg. it broke my face.
*a brown recluse/gangrene
*driving while narcoleptic
*my first canadian roomate

Sometimes I wish I still had a ringer T-shirt I gave to Angela the first time I left Knoxville. I could use the reminder sometimes. I should add it to the list of shirts I need to screen/make.

It simply said "TUFF" in blue fuzzy letters.

Oh yea, did you notice one of those cows is a Nazi?

flight of the bmx mini tall bike

Just got back from the MC3 ride, which was fittingly my first real ride on the mini tall . The rain held off and it was a lovely night for a ride. I'm pretty pleased with how she rode and feel like I've finally bonded with this bike. I was a bit apprehensive about the coaster brakes but they were fine. The steering is a bit twitchy but that is to be expected with a fork that steep, not to mention that the front wheel needs to lose the chunky tire. Overall it's a relaxed riding position; just need some grips and longer cranks to straighten out my legs a bit. Many thanks to Jim and Sailor who did a fine job guiding my creation.

On the subject of legs though, I'm pretty proud of mine tonight. I was asking for bets as to where on Adnac I would have to dismount and walk her up the hill. I couldn't believe it when I passed a girl on a road bike, made it up to Commercial, and then all the way home. These lil legs of mine are tougher than I thought.

As for aesthetics, I'm still not sure if she'll get the rattle can treatment or not. The general consensus is that 'pink and black are hot'. Not being a huge fan of pink, I'm thinking dark, sparkly purple and gold would look pretty rad and compliment the leaopard print seat well. And of course, I'm in love with my molocules. I drilled apart some cog sets to fashion a slightly abstracted inosilicate structure across the monkey bars, which just so happens to match part of my forearm tattoo.

You can take the nerd out of her lab but you can't take the nerd outta the biker.

streets of (almost) doom

Just got back from a surprisingly pleasant rainy bike ride.
Had a few close calls though:
1. Barely avoided the hood of a VW doing a last minute U-turn on Adanac
2. Ran over cleverly disguised glass and miraculously avoided a flat
3. Almost got hit by an undercover SUV on Comox

Back to the positive though, this was my first excursion with a pair of MEC CyclPad Gloves. I bought them having heard mixed reviews but found them to be surprisingly warm although not waterproof. There is a good thread on Fixed Van about gear for winter riding. Adequate rain gear, 3 yrs of getting used to this weather, and being on my bike goes a long way to making this weather more enjoyable. Was tempted to head back out for midnight mass but I gotta be a nerd and burn some midnight oil on the thesis instead. Hopefully a trade off for the MC3 ride tomorrow.
The end is nigh though. Will be the first ride with the new mini-tall. But that's a topic for another post.

Vancouver winter fashion

It's raining cats and dogs out there. So much so that I couldn't coax Frances off the porch to pee. Putting her coat on usually gets her out there but not today. She got as far as hiding under the table in the yard, flashing me a pathetic look, and promptly running back for the door. Luckily we clocked an hour of quality romping with her pal Pica earlier during a break in the deluge. Time for me to suit up and head out there on my bike. Days like these will make those sunny summer days all the more wonderful when they come around again.

when geologists chitchat

You have to love when a conversation about whether or not to go snowboarding tomorrow evening breaks down into a discussion on adiabtic lapse rates.

The Problem: With a high of 8c (low 6c) in Vancouver, will it be rainy or snowy on Seymour? Sure you can check the alpine forecast via their website but the scientist in me likes to do my own calculations.

The Math: Temperature lapse rates vary depending on the source of a frontal system, however it is safe to assume a MALR of -6c/1000m. The upper runs max out at 1200m and the lower runs sit between 1020-900m.

The Conclusion: No go.

The freezing level should be up around Mystery peak dumping unwanted rain onto those powdery, jib-friendly slopes. Pass holders may not care but I grew up on the Ice Coast and now I'm an unapologetic snob re: snow conditions.

FYI: Vancouver receives 80-90% of it's avg 1,219 mm of precip b/w Oct-April.
WoW.

technology: screwed by a pooch?

Stu showed up in my lab today with this gift from a friend. I'm not one for conspicuous consumption but for a moment I was tempted to think that a humping dog USB key was a fine example of function blended with crass form. But Fido here is just a tease...stick him in and he humps endlessly but is shooting blanks, so to speak.

The flip side depicts a rather distrubing robot cock dog. I would love to know what he's saying. anyone out there able to decipher?
creative translations welcome.

do what now?

Working on my budding juggling skills and it turns out that the guys in my practice CD-ROM are not only pro-jugglers but yo-yo masters as well. For several, it's their only job. rad. A quick youtube search offered up this amazing video. Good beats and ridiculous tricks.
And not surprisingly, asians are doing the fuck out of it.

square one

been wanting to stretch these lobes for a long time but it was always low on my list of potential monetary expenditures. thanks to Nathan's DIY know-how and resources I've got a new project for 2008. how big will i go? guess time will tell.

ohmygodohmygodohmygod

it ain't a recipe for happiness pie but fun jell looks like the secret ingredient to vancouver's 1st food sittin' party*.
stay tuned this summer for details......
*NOT to be confused with a WAM party.
(Sluts are not included with purchase of fun jell)

rats

happy new years all. so far it's starting off tired.
Was a year of extremes for me.....had some of the best days (and summer) of my life along with some of the worst. Learned a lot though and hoping to put hard won lessons to good use in 2008. Some 2007 Highlights:
*travels to missoula, the kootenays, Golden, all girl camping @ baker
*good friends (old and new)
*my new road bike and a shit ton of rad bike rides and events
*amazing powder days
*finally getting data
*sitting in my yard eating b-fast on sunny mornings
*being open to love (unfortunately that means being open to heartbreak too. crud.)
*and of course...Frances, mum, and dad.